2012.12.18 – Brixton Academy, London, England

Date: 18th December 2012
Event: The Prodigy Concert
Venue: Brixton Academy
City: London
Country: England
Support: see timetable

Tracklist:
1. Voodoo People
2. Jetfighter
3. Breathe
4. The Day
5. Omen
6. Poison
7. Thunder (Dubstep)
8. Religion Link
9. AWOL
10. Firestarter
11. Run With The Wolves
12. World’s On Fire
13. Spitfast
14. Omen (Reprise)
15. Invaders Must Die
16. Diesel Power Beats
17. Smack My Bitch Up
Encore:
18. Take Me To The Hospital
19. Dogbite
20. Their Law
21. Hyperspeed
22. Out of Space

Extra info:
Premiere performance of The Day (Is My Enemy). They played Hyperspeed first time live since 1995.

Timetable:
21:00 DJ Gedo Mega Bitch
22:00 South Central
23:00 Jaguar Skills
00:00 The Prodigy
01:30 Caspa
03:00 Curfew

Review by Adamicz:
So the Brixton shows are over and, at least for the Czech crew, these were unforgettable days. A lot of crazy things has happened but one after another.
The 1st gig on Tuesday started for us a few hours before opening of the venue. Our tickets were still waiting for us at the box office so we went to the Brixton quite early. We also knew a few people here has tried to set a meeting in one of the pubs around the venue so we tried to look in one of these but without any luck. We then went back to the Brixton Academy to wait in line with other fans for the opening time. Was quite surprised that like an hour and half before the opening, there was just a few people waiting but that quickly changed as were getting closer to the start of the show. Once the gate opened we went straight to the hall to get to the first row. The upcoming hours were quite painful, as we were not really impressed by the supporting acts, not at all, but as soon as The Prodigy kicked in that changed really fast. The first gig was simply awesome. My expectations about the setlist were not high so I’m really happy about the result. I’ve almost didn’t recognized that they’ve started with a new intro, to me it sounded way to similar to the last one, but that’s just me I guess. Anyway once they’ve dropped Voodoo People as their first track in the setlist and not WoF as usual I knew this is gonna be an awesome night:) You guys know the whole setlist for the shows, so just in short some of my thoughts:
The new track was great. Great beats, don’t know what to think about the female vocal part but I really liked the track as a whole though.
I was absolutely blown away by the new fill right before Breathe. On Tuesday they’ve played it like for a minute of something
, it was quite a simple but with really powerful sounding and dark and heavy atmosphere. I had goosebumps all over my body when Liam dropped it, really great. They didn’t play it on Saturday though and on Thursday just for a few seconds. Liam also indeed dropped part of Osaka fill right before the new “Eagle Break” fill which led to World’s on Fire track. Can’t remember if that Osaka fill bit was played on Tuesday but on Wednesday and Thursday definitely was. And of course, Hyperspeed, I was dancing like mad when they’ve dropped it on the first show. Kind of hoped, they would play different oldskool track each night but that didn’t happen, but what the hell, that’s The Prodigy we’re talking here about, so better than nothing Smile
So these were the shows, but the best part was still to come for us. After the second show on Wednesday, we went out of the venue and waited for the band in front of the “production door” with some other fans. It was freezing cold and raining as fuck but after a while Rob appeared, took some pics with people and went back indoor. Also Dugdale has shown up. After an hour Liam finally came out, Lukuc and Gengy, my Czech fellas, took a pic with him and got their tickets signed by him. Maxim took the opportunity and went out quietly by different door a while after Liam. But that was just a Wednesday
On Thursday, after the last show, we went back again to wait for the band, as most people of our little Czech Brixton crew still had no pics with the band, so we tried again our luck. And we succeeded, even more than expected because of one nice surprise. But it started with Leo who went out to smoke, he was really nice and patient Smile We took some pics with him and after while he also went back in. Then Rob appeared but he went straight to the car if I remember right. Before Maxim and Liam showed up, it took a several hours, because the guys had a little afterparty somewhere at the backstage rooms. Before they went out, some other interesting people showed up, like Mr. Cambell, Prodigy’s sound engineer, but we didn’t talked with him, for some reason. On the other hand we talked a while with Neil McLellan, The Prodigy’s producer, he was really great and you could tell from his words how much he admires The Prodigy and their work. At that time there was just a few people still waiting for the band, just all seven of us, of our Czech Brixton crew and one British fella, oldskool raver, but shamefully I’ve forgot his name. It was around 6 am when Liam and Maxim finally showed, guys were just great, maybe a little exhausted but yet very patient, so we took a chance and took some pics with them, also Leeroy was there, but we’ve missed him, as hew went out together with Maxim but went different way, but the British colleague has got pic with him, I think. Yet the biggest surprise was something different, a minutes before Liam showed up, this older little girl came out. She looked really familiar to us. We were almost sure who she is, but didn’t find a courage to ask her. But suddenly she turned back to us (thank you God Smile) and asked us if we got a light. We did, and when one of us lighted up her cigarette I had to ask her: “I’m sorry, but aren’t you Sharky?”, “If I’m Sharky?” she replied with big smile on her face, “Yes, I am”. So yeah, there she was, we obviously asked her for a photo, she also signed our tickets. She was super nice, smiling all the time, kind of delighted we’ve recognized her Smile Later I’ve asked her if she’s touring with the band but she said that no, that it’s just special occasion to see her friends. So we were really lucky to met her I guess. After a few minutes, Liam, Maxim, Sharky and most of the staff has left the scene, back to their homes. It ended for us with one of the main Prodigy staff guys who gave us some posters and T-shirts for free for our patience, wished us Merry Christmas and left the scene as well. We thank him for everything and went back to the hotel.
You can tell, these moments were one of the most important for us as Prodigy fans, just unforgettable. Yeah, these were the days

Review by nme.com
The Prodigy embarked on the first of three sold-out nights at The O2 Academy Brixton in London last night (December 19), with the final night on the 20th/21st deliberately chosen to tie in with the end of the Mayan calendar.
With a 3am curfew, the band didn’t take to the stage until after midnight. Employing the services of live drummer Leo Crabtree and guitarist Rob Holliday, a feature of the latter-day live sets, the big beat collective, originally from Braintree, Essex, drew on a wealth of material spanning their 20- year recording history.
Playing throughout under a subdued red light with the words “Warriors: Welcome To The Scene Of The Crash” emblazoned on the backdrop – a lyric lifted from ‘Take Me To The Hospital’ from their ‘Invaders Must Die’ album – the show had an apocalyptic feel.
The band entered to a long introduction of mostly feedback before breaking into ‘Voodoo People’, with Maxim appearing prominently at the front of the stage, his head covered in a snood, which he quickly took off to reveal a muscle vest, black shorts with red stripes and leggings. Keith Flint soon lost his WWII bomber jacket to also reveal a white vest and his trademark prizefighting white belt.
“All my people here,” invoked Maxim before ‘Jetfighter’, “All my people in Brixton tonight, this shit’s going to another level.” Maxim’s patter was familiar throughout. “All my people up top!” he shouted before ‘Breathe’ pointing to the gallery at Brixton Academy, “All my fucking warriors here on the floor!”
Liam Howlett, founder of the group, was least conspicuous, hiding behind four laptops and what looked like a stack of routers. The lighting made it difficult to see him, though strobes during ‘Omen’ revealed Maxim’s warpaint. At the MC’s behest, the whole crowd began jumping in unison during ‘Poison’, while guitarist Rob Holliday stole a cymbal from the drumkit and inexplicably threw it off stage.
Visibility became better during ‘Firestarter’, with Keith Flint coming to prominence for the first time to huge applause. “We’re so fucking twisted”, he sang as a refrain during the track. “Brixton fucking Academy, you fucking know what to fucking do!” he shouted swearily before ‘Run With The Wolves’.
Following a rousing ‘Smack My Bitch Up’, The Prodigy left the stage only to return to do an encore with five songs, the aforementioned ‘Take Me To The Hospital’ to start and to end a celebratory ‘Out Of Space’.

Poster: